Xun

The xun is one of the oldest musical instrumentsin China, with a history of approximately 7,000 years

It is said that the xun originated from the hunting tool of the stone meteor. During ancient times, people often tied a stone or mud ball to the rope that was used for hunting wild animals. The people would then throw the ropes, with the stones wrapping around the animal's limbs, bringing them down, Hence the name of stone meteor. Some of the balls were hollow, and so made many sounds when thrown. Most people found these hollow balls enjoyable and learned how to blow air into them. Gradually, the stone meteor became the musical instrument known as the xun.

The earliest xun was made of stone or bones, but later it became earthen. Also, the forms varied in many ways. For example, it could be shaped like a ball, a pear, a fish, or a flat circle or ellipse.